To dust
by AnAngelOfMusic
Summary: Carrying on her back the burden of losing her world, her people; a girl stranded in a savage planet struggles to come to terms with being the last. With being alone. But there is another who understands the pain of watching your own people burn. From dust we are born, and to dust we all return.
1. Chapter 1

It was so cold here in the reaches of space, in the voids of madness and loneliness. But perhaps the madness was what kept me going. Kept me strolling along the bland familiar beaches of the nether-land. I am alone.

I imagine my world as it was, vibrant and genius. Much like those to inhabit it-much like-No. There was no use paining my already agonized thoughts any longer. The world is gone, and the people gone with it.

Perhaps I am almost gone too.

The foggy blue sun set in the distance, and I crawled back towards my shelter to escape the purple misty skies and dangers of the night, carrying my blister crabs and amber grass in hand for dinner.

The trouble with this world was its creatures, as I had soon understood upon stepping on its soils. In fact when the escape-ship crashed-I was not alone. But the commotion of heavy metal scrawling a mark into the earth sent the beasts running for it, running to slay the intruders. Everyone but me was lost, whether they survived the initial attacks or succumbed to the strange lands later-a tragedy after an even greater one.

How did we ever think we could start over.

A crab began to sizzle in my palms as I carried it, and I gasped, dropping the creature which soon dug itself deep within the sand beyond my ability to retrieve. There was a reason I called them blister crabs-it was an evolutionary technique they held to avoid vicious native bacterium and predators. The ability to raise their internal temperatures past 200 degrees by sheer power of will. I usually smashed them in the heads to avoid this-but I hadn't gotten him well enough I suppose. My hand grew deep red. Welts would come soon enough-welts which might pop and expose the tissues to foreign disease. Everything about this land was savage and cruel. But it was now my home and I had no chance of living in any other world.

How I miss them all-yet how foolish it is to miss the dead I suppose.

I remember the golden days-the sunshine, the peace. Waking to a rosy dawn and falling asleep to a starry night. The atmosphere is too thick here, you only see the faded and distorted colors of the sun through the clouded skies. I haven't seen a star in 2 years. The last night on my planet.

I arrived at the threshold of my shanty, carrying my disabled game and vegetation in towards the hearth. I sat down in the sandy floor and pulled out my tools, slowly slicing the membranes of my two remaining crabs with my laser, directing it soon after to their brains with murderous precision. Triggering the heating mechanism. The crab meat cooked as it continued to heat past it's safe temperature of 250 degrees, something that happened when there was a disruption between the shell lining and nervous system's commands. I placed a strand of grass on the shells, allowing it to catch fire. I threw it over into the pit just inches away.

The good meat was removed and I ate it ravenously-enjoying the smooth taste of fish heartily. But it was a like every meal I endured, alone, and there was no chance of escape. I prayed it would be my last.

But that is selfish.

I have to carry on for them-the last of my kind. I must live and carry the torch. But was there even a point? Was there a light at the end of this dark, dismal and decaying dark tunnel?

Would they truly wish this pain upon their friend? When it would be, to almost no avail? Our race would be nevermore no matter how long I lived. There was no man to repopulate with. No world to repopulate.

I spat out a glassy shard-was it a shell? Was it-god could I be so lucky as to have forgotten to remove the toxin patch?

In my depression I had gone lazy.

The meat in my mouth turned rotten and I spat out desperately, though uselessly. I had watched others die of this-it was a cardiac targeting poison. Sure to enter my arteries soon, and shoot up with the rest of my blood into my heart. Where there was already suffering, it would be pained and shriveled. Pickling my chest in a sea of sickness within minutes.

I walked out of my make-shift home slowly, to prolong my last breathes. How bright the sky now seemed-how it seemed to brighten in its goodbye kiss to me. How it made death all the while sweeter in recognition of the fact that these skies were not in anyway my own. The final survivor to die, and turn to dust with her people. How romantic the thought was.

But the foreign blue sun was blocked by something bigger and bluer. My eyes were failing now, and I hadn't the chance to recognize it.

I felt hot blood stream from my ears-a sign my end was nearer. I thanked all the gods of all the worlds. Perhaps one of them had my people. Perhaps one of them would gain me entrance and we would all be reunited. But I was too skeptical, even in my last moments of life, to ever allow myself the beautiful belief that there was any place in heaven left for me.

Now came the heart pains, I clutched at my chest, almost for a second regretting my early death. The way I would die in my youth so terribly. But then again, I had died with the rest in all the ways that mattered long ago.

You see the problem with this poison is it did as the crabs did-burned you from the inside, raced your heart until it popped and your skin sizzled. It would be anguish. That is the way I will die. But I was still glad for it. Loneliness is the greater curse.

My lips grew dry and I felt my heart thrumming, my body cooking inside out. In my deliriousness I bumped into something-it was fabric on something soft."I-For-, I go to my people.." I gasped, "I-"

I was stumbling now-my blood reaching 107 farenheit-perhaps higher. My organs are shutting down-I'm dying.

My legs lost their strength and I collapsed.

But somewhere between the alien earth and my limp body I had been caught.

"Who-" was all the voice said before the blueness turned black.


	2. Chapter 2

My lips felt dry as I traced them with my tongue. I could taste the dried blood on them. I was sitting in softness-in luxury it felt like. But my eyes wouldn't open-and I couldn't tell the nature of what was around me any further that what my fingertips could tell me.

I breathed in and shook my body lightly, letting out a cough. What followed was a scream of pain.

"You really ought to stop moving." My hyperventilating increased. It was a person-a higher life form. I wasn't alone. I was safe and that was all just a terrible dream. My people were fine-My family was alive. The planet wasn't ashes.

But then there was the strangeness of what I had dreamt…the clarity. I was fooling myself. But perhaps fooling myself into believing my happiness still existed was better than dwelling in the terror of reality. But no…this was not a dream.

I had heard a voice.

"Nanogenes," He said cheerily. "They hurt a tad but besides that you should be good as new-give or take a couple of bruises." I felt warm breath above my face, and behind my eye lids a blue light shimmered like death's tunnels.

My swollen eyes deflated and I opened them. I felt utter awe at seeing him standing there…a man. Alive with his pulse beating and his eyes prying into my own. They dilated and scanned me with a silent sort of cleverness.

"What are you doing on one of the most unhospitibal Goldie locks planets in the universe?"

I just stared blankly-my eyes rolling into my head and my body seizing abruptly. Through my thrashes I recognized his hands holding my arms and legs to a large, cream colored shelf bed. Just like any standard ship would carry.

It ceased and I gasped and sweated, clear disgust on his face. "That was…Unexpected."

"Oh damn, you're not human are you?"

I shook my head best I could, trying to mumble "Not-"

"I really should double check that for future reference,"

My attempts at speaking ceased as my body seized again, and he restrained me in a similar fashion as with the last episode. My brain felt foggy by now, and I realized I had bit into my tongue deeply.

"Alright-let me see how I can reverse this."

My eyes had shut again by now, and I waited in darkness for relief. Seconds later I felt the saliva run back into my mouth and my eyes go clear. I blinked them and stared at my body and the yellow microbes that healed it, the vigor returning into my tissues.

"So what are you exactly? I had to come up with a jumble of all sorts of species for this nano to work. And, by the way if you happen to grow a tail or maybe just a rash of some sort after this, don't blame me for your own peculiar genetics."

I looked up silently, glaring into those muddy brown eyes.

"Well if you're going to look at me like that I'm not keeping you with me-that or I'd have to sleep with one eye open."

My eyes watered and I began to look at my hands-the pearly color and smooth flesh I had so much pride in before now restored. It had been burned and marred between the crash, the attacks, and vicious blister crabs. I began to sob. He sat next to my new body and smoothed my back.

"One eye it is," was all that escaped from him. Undoubtedly he was intrigued and shocked by my abrupt fit-perhaps more than my muscle contractions.

"Who are you?"

I stared at him in confusion, "What?"

"I said, who are you? Gosh, the look on your face is like I've just walked in on you naked or something. Which, I technically have."

"What?!"

"Well, you had disgusting blood dripping out of all of your holes, what was I supposed to do, Let you sit in a pile of bloody clothes, or even worse, sit in my nice clean bed in a pile of bloody clothes? The horror-imagine all those stains!"

I sat silently and stared down at the foreign garments I wore, blinking.

"Well, who are you?"

"I'm, I'm-"

I felt my stomach churn and my face grow pale.

"Sick."

"Nice to meet you sick, I'm the doctor."

I pulled on his suit and rose dizzily, scanning the floor for a safe place to gag.

"You're not going to-"

I fell down onto the metal ground and vomited.

"Oi, your rejecting this batch too. What are you exactly? I can't keep guessing."

"I'm-"I retched once more before finishing my sentence. "Dustinian"

"Dust? Alright, quit soiling my floors I'm getting the right nanogenes."

He walked around my waste towards some sort of compartment-my vision was going blurry, and I was soon blinded to everything but lights and colors.

"Are you full Dust?"

"No-my" I vomited again and continued "My father was human"

"Hmm…nearly had the first batch right then. I didn't think you were full dust-haven't got the freaky pupils..or the blobbiness. I thought you said you weren't human?"

"I-" more sickness came in waves-but I managed to hold it in.

"I'm making you clean this later." He hesitated with the cure to gesture towards the sickness all over the floor grates.

I adjusted my stiffened neck to scowl at him.

"Here, I've done a fifty fifty dose so hopefully you've not got some other sort of species mixed in there. I'm not sure how much more your body can take."

Spores of gold flooded the air and attached themselves to my flesh. "Yes-that looks about right."

They worked quickly, and soon I was rising from the floor. "Don't slip in this nonsense you've left lying about," he spoke.

"So Dustinian? The faceless species. Always thought the whole deal with adopting the foreign parent's features was pretty neat. You've not only got the bonus of nearly being immortal-but in the good looking body of a Humanoid." He winked and did a motioned to himself "not only that-but you're ginger. I always wanted to be one…but better luck next time I guess."

"What are Dusts doing on a planet like this anyways? You're supposed to be somewhere inventing a cure for the great plague-not struggling to survive crab poison."

"There aren't Dusts anymore." I spoke softly-my open declaration bringing tears to my eyes and confusion to his.

"What do you mean there aren't dusts? You're some of the longest living people I know. Your longevity is almost that of my own people, not to mention you carry the universes eggs."

"Dead." Was all I could mutter before the tears poured down my face.

Guilt smothered his silent, clever eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

"I-" The doctor stared at me, and a coldness swept into the room as I recognized a familiar pain in his chocolate irises.

"Don't" I stared at the floor, not wanting apologies for what he didn't do, what no one's apologies could change. "So what is this? I seem to have failed to ask you between my-muscle spasms"

"That's quite the down play now isn't it? 'Muscle spasms', more like swelling of the brain." He paused and looked me over, analyzing my words. "It clearly did some damage"

I tried to remain serious, but a slightly amused smile played onto my lips. He seemed relieved by it, a small one forming in retaliation on his own mouth.

"What is this truly then?" He looked around. "Well, at least you didn't say it was bigger on the inside. That would be slightly repetitive."

"Sorry, I was too unconscious for to notice proportions. Or the entire exterior."

"Ah, well. I guess I can fix that. Follow me!" His rubber soles jogged across the floor letting off slight squeaks. "What's one your feet? I think my dad had a pair of those." He halted his movement and looked down. "Eh, these are actually- god what are they called again," He paused and smoothed his hair. "Converse! Sorry, I've been off of earth a while."

"So those are from earth then?" I said excitedly, he nodded, eyeing me curiously. "Why so much enthusiasm?"

"I-" I paused, tightening my lip in search of an explanation. "Never-mind, you're too slow for my impatience. We should probably be going anyways- this planet is more than likely going to implode within the next 48 hours."

I gaped at him, my face turning pale. "What!?"

"Why else would I come to the middle of nowhere? Of course I want to watch something blow up."

I opened my mouth to speak, but his quick tongue cut me down. "Well, let's go gather your things then," He walked towards my and ensnared my wrist, dragging my through a blue door. I allowed my pale eyes to adjust to the blue sunlight.

"Well, you can turn around and be amazed or whatever it is you apes do."

"Apes?"

"Sorry, whatever you silly half-apes do."

I stared at him in slight disbelief, but obeyed, turning to see a small police box. "This is, from Britain right?"

"Yes, are you familiar? It's a personal favorite of mine."

"Well, my dad is actually from one of the Americas. Whichever one had the United States, I am not honestly sure."

"Did you ever meet him?" It was an abrupt thing to say, but I met his eyes with all of my tenacity and strength.

"Not really, my mother had decided she wanted the physical traits of a human for her infant, performed a skin reform, and walked up to the most attractive one she could find full tissue suit. All she told me about him was that he was American, he didn't know what she was, and that I could have his picture. He's wearing those shoes in it."

"AH" He boomed in reminiscence leaning against his blue box. "Back before the shadow proclamation, when skin suits were legal. That was interesting day in politics"

He smiled into the distance dreamily, perhaps of a far off memory "Yep, we should probably get moving" He said calmly, and just as dreamily. I looked into the direction in which he stared, to my horror seeing the sun appear extremely dim, so faint I could look at it directly.

"Anyways, where is your camp? That sun is burning up. I'd give it maybe 2 more hours before everything goes dark. These blue suns are infamous for being bipolar."

"Follow me."

He nodded and once again, seemed to insist on holding my hand. It felt odd however, having that slight and small human connection after so a long a life without it.

I dragged him forwards past a rock shelf, and guided him down towards the small opening to my hidden place.

"Uh-"He looked around the dark and minimally filled space which had been my home for the last 2 miserable and lonely years, poking a crab shell with his foot. "Those, this is- nice." He fumbled with his words in discomfort, clearly fighting the urge to say something rude and true.

I started a fire to illuminate the darkness that was growing more and more intense by the ticking clock. "I only have one or two things, so we can get out of here soon." "Hey, don't worry about me, just worry about that super nova which will in approximately an hour and forty minutes fry this planet into chips."

I grabbed my small tin box of memories, my boots and second thermal suit, but just as I was going to grab my laser tool, a pair of slender pale fingers had it in their grips. "Is this a sonic screw driver?" He questioned in amazement, "Well, it's more a sonic-laser. It's generally useless as far as I know for anything else. I guess you could say it is an extremely, extremely basic form of sonic screw driver."

"First it's a sonic laser, then it's a sonic screwdriver-you really ought to make up your mind."

"Well, I'm not completely sure what it is. It was on my ship's emergency kit and I grabbed it. I'd have been dead long ago without the tool."

"That or more clever," He said distractedly, twisting the tool in the fleeting light to appeal to his curious examinations. "Well, it's rather peculiar isn't it?"

"Yes, yes I suppose it is."

"You suppose? Well I'd most definitely call it a curious thing If I've yet to have seen it in my existence."

"Well then you must find many things curious in the breaches of space-you're clearly very young Doctor."

"Not as young as you'd think. I just happen to have a good skin care regime." He paused from his analyzing to look down at me, his eyes seeming to pierce into my large green ones in sheer interest.

"How old are you exactly?"

"Well that's very rude, and I'm not going to answer seeing how you've yet to answer any of my questions. How old are you?"

My eyebrows flat lined and I glared, formulating an answer, hesitating a moment to long.

"One would think they know their age. I mean if anyone has the excuse to forget how old they are it's probably going to be me. I meant that in all the offense."

I smiled, and replied. "I'm eighteen or seventeen, something along those lines. I don't really remember how old I was when we left."

He rose an eyebrow and looked down at me. "The age of this body is roughly twenty four, I am personally somewhere around eight hundred I think, all I am past four hundred and not quite a thousand and one."

"Well, it's officially an hour until the world ends. I'd like to live to be two thousand, so we should probably get going."

I grabbed the rest of my few treasures, and we walked towards the entrance of the cave. But then the world shook. I gasped in panic and the Doctor tuned into my fears and attempted comfort.

"Don't worry, it's just a gravitational-" A rock tumbled from the top of the cave into its mouth cutting off his sentence and sending us both into internal and silent panic. "You should probably worry".

I stared at him in terror, and spoke. "I'm sorry I've killed you."

He looked slightly defeated and mumbled in reminiscence. "I was dead long ago."


	4. Chapter 4

I choked on my breath as the smoke smothered us. I gagged and fell to the floor, tracing the sands with the imprints of my crashing palms.

An attempt at words was soon dismembered by my coughs, and all I could do was point in the direction of the light, my eyes growing blurry and the room hot from the trapped fire. He coughed and obeyed, as I sat in surrender on the floor. He ripped off his pinstripe jacket and smothered the pit. We sat inhaling the trapped smoke in gasps. "Well, now what?" He spoke, the room pitch black and my ears pricked in compensation.

"Well, you're 800, figure something out with your wisdom!" I retorted, clawing through the gritty rocks for something familiar.

"Sassy, I like it." He spit the words out with admiration lacing the language. I chuckled and it seemed like I felt his smiles in the dark.

"Well, at least we've had a good laugh before we die," He paused and I heard the shuffle of his feet cease. "Whatever your name is."

I felt the sand kick into my face as he continued forward, and I grumbled from the grittiness in my eyes. He stepped on my hand moments later, and before I could shriek, another shoe sole found appeasement on my back. "Oh, there you are."

He lifted his foot, and I lifted myself up, feeling for his shoulders in my blindness. "Here, just hold my hand" his voice cut like a knife in the silence, and I soon felt his palm securing my own. "Does your sonic screwdriver work for a flash light or something?"

"Well, yeah. But In the hustle and bustle, I seem to have dropped it." He sighed, and his breath ruffled the top of my hair. "And I really wasn't in the mood to scramble about in this filthy, uncomfortable-. Ow!" I realized my hand was clenching his. "Lovely home."

"Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous in the darkness. I don't really like it." He laughed, "Afraid of the dark? Forgive me but I never quite pictured someone who more or less single-handedly survived one of the most hostile moons would have such an insignificant fear."

I let out a sigh and stared blankly at the nothingness, hearing outside the stone walls eruption of howls and monster's my mind invented, and this planet deemed into existence..

He patted my hand "But there, it's alright, we'll find it, and life will be good and jolly for our funerals."

I felt my body crash to the ground after his gracefully kneeled without warning, taking my hand in tow.

"Sorry," I scrambled from the sand loosing link from his hand. "Yes, well just stay close to my voice, I don't want to have to step on you again whos-your-face."

I felt the dirt soil my pale hands, tracing the sand piles for any sort of obstruction in their smoothness. I felt a small cylinder soon enough. "Here, I've found it." I picked It up and waved it in front of my face for him to grab at.

"Well, that's convenient. I'll just fire the old gal up- should only take a second and we'll be able to see."

I felt fire spit from the direction of his voice, and the abrupt smell of burning flesh filled the air. I screamed in shock, feeling a small grazed section of my cheek. "God what was that!?" He gasped.

"I must have," I paused and traced the damage to my distaste. "I must have given you the laser instead."

"Oh." He whispered. "Wow, that's just some busted luck on your behalf. In the short time I've known you, you've had some sort of bodily shock, severe burning, seizures, brain swelling, mutation, and now I've practically fried you. No important organs I hope?"

I shook my head even though he couldn't see it. "Just my face. Who needs those anyways?"

"Well, I've known a few who find them a necessity." His sarcasm was cut short by genius. "This is fantastic! No, I might have cooked your face, but I've an idea to make you have a long and ugly life if you'd like."

"I've lived one long enough so far, bombs away."

He shuffled in the dark, and soon the familiar bright laser pierced towards a wall, cracking at the stone. I stared in disbelief as the light creaked in small steady streams.

A heads worth of rock crumpled to the ground, and the laser died.

"Well, I've broken your toy. Hopefully you don't mind. Anyways, I think we can just beat at the wall for a bit, seeing how I've cracked it." He turned to look at me, and his eyes narrowed as his poked at my now wound. "I'm so sorry." I stared into his sharp eyes and smiled "Don't be."

He looked abruptly towards the floor, severing our eye contact and soon retrieving his sonic screwdriver.

"Alright, let's go on the count of three. 1," He readied himself, pointing his body towards the wall in a runners stance. "2" I felt my own body adjust to suit the charge, and finished his sentence "3"

We rammed against the stone, and it shuddered, hunks of it crumpling down. I shuffled my feet to dodge the impending doom of my toes.

"I just can't seem to die can I?" I looked at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."

He looked down at his watch and his lips twitched in disfavor.

"Well, my ship is about 10 minutes, and we've got about 2 minutes until the solar flare. So, I'm thinking we should probably run. Allons-y!"

His legs launched themselves forward towards safety, sliding through the sand and flitting over rocks, I watched from my distance in internal terror at my pace. My feeble new legs did little in the effect of running due to weakness, the tissues still raw.

"Hurry," He shouted over his shoulder, and my lungs heaved from lack of air. We had made it through the slow sand, and all that remained was the stone hedges. He had already reached the top when my hands were searching the bottom of the cliff for grip. "Climb! Here, just a little while and I can pull you up." I looked upwards, his Brown hair swishing in all different directions with the wild wind, a sun in uproar behind him in the sky. I saw the blueness of it shudder and splash into nearby space.

I was half way to the top when time was up, and I saw the sky begin to change colors.

"I don't even know your name, but can you please trust me?" He shouted, the wind battering both our faces, causing us to shout.

"Ophelia,"

"What?"

"That's my name, Ophelia."

"Ophelia, can you trust me?" He looked into my un-answering gaze. "I need you to leap towards me"

I looked down at the definite death I would endure should he not catch me, fear screeching through my green irises.

"You're going to die if you don't, I can't have any more people die! Please, just please!"

"But If I fall-" I spoke in terror

"Then you will die. If you miss my grip, you will die even if you survive the fall." He stared pleadingly at me, "Please."

I hesitated, and felt the stability of the rock beneath my feet tremble, and crumble beneath me. "I'll trust you, I will trust you will all I have left" I responded, my lips trembling.

My legs springed upwards towards his outstretched hands.

I jumped.

Gravity pulled me down.


	5. Chapter 5

The sun began to sting at my skin in the midst of that listless state between the sky and the ground. I watched my skin sun-burn instantly, and looked up to see lobster colored hands reaching for my own. The sky blazing in anger at my attempt of escape from its hellish territory, frothing in the sky and searing my eyes and skin hotter and hotter by the instant.

I felt the weight of the world literally dragging me down from the rock shelf and away from his hands. If I missed I would be dead either way, and if I hesitated in deciding my fate he would die too.

I clawed at his palms to defy the sky, and his large slender hands swallowed my small ones. I felt the strain of his shoulders as they bore me upwards, saw the wrinkle in his face of exertion. But soon enough it was over, and I was sitting there on the dirt feeling it fry my skin, feeling my cheek bleed and the blood simmer, bubbling on my broiling tissue. I grew dizzy and so did he, pulling at each other forwards towards a strange blue box in the distance. The heat making us forget why, the heart telling us to hope forwards towards it.

We stumbled through the rocks, looking upwards on occasion at the expanding sun and its gradual increase from millions of miles away. Feeling a million miles worth of heat reach us. My lips were dry, my mouth lost all taste and my eyes were swollen. His appearance was the reflection of mine.

The box, how close and ungraspable in my blurred vision and his, yet as it lost its detail in our decaying state, it became more and more like a beaconing light, a blue smear in infinite bad vision, growing closer and closer in our delicate eyes. Until then our feet bumped into a wall.

The door opened and the opening pulled us back into the world, the shutting of it securing our place in consciousness. I slid to the floor and my chest heaved. He himself lying crumpled in a similar position. He soon pulled himself upwards, his cracked lips dripping odd shades of dried blood. "Well that was exciting." He walked towards the mainframe of the ship and entered codes as I sat recovering and watching. Soon the entire platform was aching with the noise of a strange engine.

"There," He smiled over un-phased, white skin peeling already from his powerful sunburns. "In the midst of space where no immediate doom is in session, for now at least. I think I might," he was interrupted as he became dizzy "well, I am considering taking a little bit of rest" and with that he stumbled down onto the ground near his engine, and passed out from heat exhaustion. I curled up on the cool floors and repeated his actions in my own spot of the ship.

I woke up to his cheery voice and my own stinging skin. Small cubes of nothingness were dropped onto my tongue, no flavor and a jell like texture. "What?" I mumbled, looking upwards from the floor, my mouth full of strange substance. "What is this?" my mouth chewed and It soon developed flavor. "How did you get Red Beast steak? They should all be extinct." He was above me, his lost striped jacket replaced, and his eyebrow lifting as he watched me. "Red Beast? Bit gamey wouldn't you think? I'd personally prefer something amongst the lines of a nice Wire bird, have you ever tried those?"

I shook my head, my eyes lightening in curiosity, my tongue tasting a different subject which was light and tender. I swallowed "That's strange," I hesitated, my eyebrows knitting together in questioning. "What is?" "The taste changed." His face stared into mine with a dominate look of confusion, until abruptly changing to clarity with his eyes brightening and his mouth opening in relief for having solved my puzzle. "Oh yes, they change to whatever you want to eat. If you aren't in the mood for anything though, it just tastes like jello." I laughed and soon cringed as my shaking rib cage ripped at the bond between my clothes and sunburn. I looked up to analyze his own surface

"How are you not burned?" He shrugged and looked me "I dunno. Regenerative properties I guess."

I lifted myself up slowly, yelping the entire while for pain. "Do you," I paused to recover from my agonies, "Do you have any loose clothes I could borrow please?" "Yes, if you don't happen to mind either 1700s gowns or the 1950s housewife look." "What?" "Oh yes, that's right, silly me, Dustinian not human. Its really so hard to remember with a mug like that. You probably haven't a clue what a dress even is do you? All protocol uniform I guess. Well, I will go get you something, and seeing how your shoes have melted what size are they?"

"I'm a 4 retner." He hesitated and left his mouth open to speak, but soon decided against it. Suddenly he dropped to the floor, his two fingers taking measurement of my feet, holding themselves at the length in which they were. I watched as he walked slowly off, watching the distance between his fingers to avoid any change.

I stood, with my skin and clothes sticking to each other in throbbing pain. I examined the room around me, and soon started analyzing the wires beneath the grates I stood on, watching as they ran towards a large and glowing engine. Soon enough he was back, dangling on his fingers black shoes like his own, and some blue cloth in the crook of his arm. "Converse, right?" I stared at them, unsure of my words. "Like your Dad's?" He added. I nodded and looked at them, "Well, stop staring and just grab them already." I looked up at him a pleased smile corroded my dark face, making it hurt. I hardly cared though.

"Also, here are the socks to them." He handed me two gray slips of fabric. I gradually lowered myself, the sunburn stinging me while I did. The 'socks' slid right up onto my foot as he explained, cutting themselves off halfway on my shins. They were snug enough on my narrow feet, and fit well enough to stay where they should. He set the shoes down next to me and I pulled at the noodles of fabric securing them, letting them loose for adjustment on my feet. I slid each on and stared confused at the strips of securing white fabrics.

"Ophelia?"

I looked up, in shock, having temporarily forgotten he knew my name. "Do you know how to tie your shoes?"

"I haven't a clue." He kneeled on the ground in front of my rough form, and began to tie the pearly laces, double knotting them to be safe. "There," He looked tenderly at my eyes. "Now we had better get those clothes off"


End file.
